NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday against a Hampton-based landlord for using force and threats of force against African American victims, including a businessman, a city official in Newport News, and four tenants. The indictment further charged the landlord with defrauding tenants and the government to obtain rent relief benefits, housing assistance payments for public housing, and other funds to which he…

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Robert Kirby Wells, 64, of Woodland, pleaded guilty today to one count of aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.According to court documents, Wells served as an insurance broker for a company located in Denver, Colorado, that owned multifamily and commercial properties throughout the United States. Wells was responsible for obtaining several types of insurance coverage for the company’s…

Tjoman Buditaslim, Travis Holasek, Jose Alfonso Tellez, and Jose De Jesus Martinez are Alleged to Have Prepared and Submitted Fraudulent Loan Applications Resulting in More than $55 Million in Residential MortgagesSAN FRANCISCO - A federal grand jury has indicted Tjoman Buditaslim (a/k/a “Joe Lim”), Travis Holasek, Jose Alfonso Tellez, and Jose De Jesus Martinez, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in…

A California real estate executive pleaded guilty yesterday to engaging in an extensive multi-year conspiracy to falsify financial statements. According to court documents, Tyler Ross, 37, formerly of Michigan, served as co-chief executive officer of ROCO Real Estate LLC and ROCO Management LLC, both of which are based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The ROCO companies, and related entities, operated as a commercial real estate firm engaged in…

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Gregory Finkelson with conspiracy, theft of government property, and money laundering, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Special Agent in Charge Mark Kaminsky, and IRS-Criminal Investigation…

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced the sentencing of a Los Angeles broker, who was involved in a mortgage loan fraud scheme in Southern California. The broker, Alex Ashod Dadourian, defrauded lenders by using forged documents and fraudulent records to obtain more than $8 million in mortgage loans for his clients in order to earn commissions for himself. Today, he was convicted on 91 felony counts of mortgage…

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Merrifield couple was sentenced today for stealing at least nine people’s identities and using the stolen personal identifying information (PII) to fraudulently buy a luxury vehicle, lease high-end residences, and obtain loans and credit. According to court documents, Caprice Foster, 51, and Marcus Foster, 33, stole the PII of numerous people primarily through Mrs. Foster’s work as a real estate agent and timeshare…

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Merrifield couple was sentenced today for stealing at least nine people’s identities and using the stolen personal identifying information (PII) to fraudulently buy a luxury vehicle, lease high-end residences, and obtain loans and credit. According to court documents, Caprice Foster, 51, and Marcus Foster, 33, stole the PII of numerous people primarily through Mrs. Foster’s work as a real estate agent and timeshare…

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned an indictment against German Antonio Lopez-Velasquez, 55, of Modesto; Marko Antonio Lopez, 27, of Modesto; and Lisa Marie Santos, 48, of Long Beach, charging them with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. Lopez-Velasquez was also charged with witness tampering. He is alleged to have attempted to persuade an individual to make false…

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former government official agreed to pay $25,000 to resolve allegations that he had an improper conflict of interest with a company while he served as the Director of the Quality Assurance Division in the Office of Lender Activities and Program Compliance within the Federal Housing Administration at the United States Office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The United States alleges that Justin Burch, of Arlington, had…